


wear your rue with a difference

by ghostofgatsby



Series: I'd kill for you. I'd die for you. I'd live for you. [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Death, Drowning, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fae manipulation, Implied Sexual Content, Majestic Horse Smith, Urban Magic Yogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 07:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostofgatsby/pseuds/ghostofgatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a bend in the river that even the kelpie doesn’t go to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wear your rue with a difference

**Author's Note:**

> I know kelpies commonly kill their victims, but as characters go I wonder what Smith’s motive is. Threeplusfire said in his fic “no light in your bright blue eyes” that Smith didn’t really think about the effect his magic had on his victims. (really big fan of his work, actually. very well written.)  
> What if Smith knew how dangerous he really is, and that’s why he kills his victims? It would be worse to let them live.
> 
> “wear your rue with a difference” is from Act IV, Scene V of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where Ophelia is handing out flowers. rue is a synonym for regret
> 
> want to reblog? check out this link: https://ghostofgatsby13.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/wear-your-rue-with-a-difference-ghostofgatsby/
> 
> CW: Drowning, death, manipulation, implied sex?
> 
> let me know if I need to tag anything else

There’s a bend in the river that even the kelpie doesn’t go to.

A weeping willow tree rests on the edges of the gritty, smoggy factories. The bank of the river is surrounded in debris, and not even the seagulls dare to dive for its treasure-filled tides.

No creatures dare come close, for something feels wrong about the tree and the river beneath. **  
**

 

Back before the industry covered the city in an impenetrable blanket of lichen-like electricity, back before the kelpie and their court ran the streets to rubble, the streets were wilderness. Before the river was deep, dark brown, it was a beautiful ribbon of clear rushing water. The forest was a heavy spread of green towering trees that brushed heaven with their leaves. **  
** ****

The kelpie was young and so was the river. **  
**

 

* * *

 

One summers eve, a young woman stood at the foot of the willow tree, rinsing out her hair. The thundering sound of horse’s hooves startled her, and she pulled back from the water only to find her back against the trunk of the tree. **  
**

In front of her, galloping through the middle of the river, was a muddy brown horse. Its coat shone in the afternoon light, and its mane was a dark russet the color of a forest fire. A bridle of the purest silver she had ever seen sat on it’s back. The horse whinnied loudly as it came to a stop several feet from the tree.

For a long time, she stood there, watching the creature as it flicked its tail from side to side. The creature watched back.

As the sun set, the horse tossed it’s mane and galloped away down the river. **  
**

“Wait,” The young woman cried, reaching out a hand hesitantly. The tips of her fingers shook but she was entranced. “ _Wait_.”

She didn’t know what she was calling for. The young woman lowered her arm to her side. The horse was gone.

 

The next day, the young woman returned, and the next. Each day, the creature arrived, but she hesitated every time, and failed to get any closer to the animal. **  
**

When a fortnight had passed of these same occurrences, the young woman returned to the river only to find the horse was waiting for her. Cautiously, she stepped into the water, just under the willow tree, and reached out her hand to stroke the horse’s muzzle. She shivered but managed to not startle the horse. The creature remained still and its bright eyes stared as if the very pull of the river was in its gaze. **  
**

“There. Not so bad, are you?” The young woman smiled and smoothed her hands up and down the horse’s flank. It pressed it’s nose into her neck and she breathed a heavy sigh as her fingers threaded through its mane.

Her hands caught on the bridle, and the horse started, pulling back slowly towards the middle of the river. The young woman moved with it, unable to untangle her hands.

The creature whinnied loudly as if to say _Run away with me_.

She hefted herself up onto it’s back, and was overcome with euphoria as the horse took off down the river. The sound was like thunder. Laughter bubbled out of her mouth as water splashed up against her thighs. Overjoyed and smiling, she pressed her face into its mane and breathed in the smell of the mossy water.

 

The stars replaced the clouds and the moon shone down like a beacon, and they returned to the weeping willow. The young woman dismounted and righted her dress, and when she looked up again she was face to face with a young man. He was handsome and charming and his eyes and hair matched the horse.

He whispered sweet words in her ear and her smile shone like the sun. They danced at the edge of the river and the amphibious creatures of the night serenaded them.

As the moon started to dip over the horizon they held each other close against the trunk of the willow tree. They kissed and the young woman let out a long weary sigh.

 

When the sun replaced the moon, bright rays of sunlight rippled across the river, blinding the young woman for a matter of moments. In that time, the young man disappeared.

The next day the young woman returned, desperately wanting to see her lover.

They were nowhere to be found.

 

A matter of days passed as the rains drowned the land and widened the river in which the kelpie lived. Once the skies had cleared he desired to see the young woman again. He galloped along the riverside until the willow tree where they met was in sight, and turned into his human form as he neared her.

She lay beneath the willow tree. He could see the white of her dress in the water, billowing like the fog on the lake, as he got closer. Her blonde hair was draped among the water lilies, and her lips were parted as if to speak.

The only sound was the brook.

The kelpie stood at her feet until the water ran cold and he could no longer feel his toes. Only then did he turn away.

**Author's Note:**

> I think there is some part of Smith that finds beauty and thrill in death. With the young woman in this story, I think he actually kinda liked her, but...well, he’s a kelpie, and his magic kills. I really thought about him dragging her into the river near the end there, but what if the river wasn’t high yet. I know you can drown in a couple inches of water but horses are tall, and there’s no way the water would reach. I think for Smith to drown someone the water has to be at least a few feet deep, or he has to have some sort of enclosure (like his car) that he can flood. I don’t think he can necessarily make the river flood, especially when this takes place in an earlier age. “The kelpie was young and so was the river.”
> 
> I really wanted to include this line, but it didn’t fit, but I don’t want to delete it, so take from it what you may: “Whether they took refuge in the city or if the city forced them from the current remains to be seen.”
> 
> I have browsed the urbanmagicaesthetic tumblr with the umy: smith tag, but I never really appreciated it completely until I started writing this.  
> (psst, hey mod trott, I heard you like horses)
> 
> umy smith in a nutshell for me: (caution there be nipples)  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/112993980606/mementomoriiv-angie-wang-the-pony-express 
> 
> didn’t even see this until AFTER I wrote this: http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/110964974528/cristina-robles
> 
> setting? :  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/111215176345/nordfjall-stream-of-shadows-by-nordfjall  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/110935826645/kid-punk-14-06-2014-17-20  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/112766873415  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/108722531562  
> http://urbanmagicaesthetic.tumblr.com/post/108635446850/farorescourage-busket-sixpenceee


End file.
